Wolverines Dog Cat, Texas Again After Loss to Huskies

Friday, March 17

Fullerton, Calif.

11:15 AM PT

Michigan

11-8

Washington

20-7

Michigan

Washington

Wolverines Dog Cat, Texas Again After Loss to Huskies

3/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Site: Fullerton, Calif. (Titan Softball Complex)
Event: Judi Garman Classic
Scores: #15 Washington 7, #9 Michigan 5; #9 Michigan 2, #4 Texas 0
Records: U-M (12-8), Washington (20-7), Texas (28-3)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, March 18 -- Bracket Playoffs at Judi Garman Classic (Fullerton, Calif.), 6:15 p.m. PST

Boxscores: Game 1 | Game 2

FULLERTON, Calif. -- Junior Tiffany Worthy (Yorba Linda, Calif./Lutheran) hammered a heroic seventh-inning home run in a 2-0 win over No. 4 Texas to snap the University of Michigan softball's losing streak after an earlier 7-5 loss to No. 14 Washington Friday (March 17) at the Judi Garman Classic.

Worthy snapped a 0-for-18 slump with a two-out home run off All-American Cat Osterman, sending the ball over the leftfield fence and ending U-M's three-game skid. The homer was Worthy's first hit since Feb. 17 and just her second base hit all season.

Sophomore Samantha Findlay (Lockport, Ill./Lockport East), who was robbed of a home run by Longhorn centerfielder Tina Boutelle in the fourth, was hit by a pitch to lead off the seventh. Osterman stepped up to strike out the next batter and induced a popup to bring Worthy to the plate. Worthy parked her first home run of the season over the leftfield fence to put Michigan up 2-0. Senior Jennie Ritter (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) struck out two of the next three batters to cement the win and hand Osterman her fourth career loss against U-M and the Longhorns' seventh straight loss to the Wolverines.

Ritter earned the win for the Wolverines to improve to 7-3, striking out nine batters and allowing just two hits. Osterman suffered her first loss of the season and her fourth in a row to the Wolverines to fall to 16-1 on the season. The two pitchers dueled in the nightcap, giving up just two hits apiece while combining for 22 strikeouts. Ritter gave up a single in the first and an infield hit in the sixth, while Osterman surrendered a first-inning hit to sophomore Alessandra Giampaolo (Pasadena, Calif./Polytechnic) and the game-winning home run to Worthy in the seventh.

In the loss to Washington, Michigan dropped its third game in a row for the first time since 2001 and found itself outhit for the first time all season. The Huskies manufactured a run in the second and had a two-run home run in the third to post an early 3-0 lead. Haas singled in a run in the third to cut the deficit to two, 3-1, but in the bottom half of the fourth the Wolverines gave up four runs, four hits -- including a three-run home run -- and two stolen bases.

Senior Stephanie Bercaw (Wooster, Ohio/Hillsdale) led off the fifth with a home run, and Michigan threatened with three runs in the sixth, but U-M could pull no closer than the final 7-5 result.

U-M's sixth-inning comeback began with a freshman Teddi Ewing (Olathe, Kan./Olathe East) single and a run-scoring double from senior Rebekah Milian (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) to make it 7-3. Senior Tiffany Haas (North Tustin, Calif/Foothill) and Bercaw walked in consecutive at-bats to load the bases, and Giampaolo outlasted Huskie pitcher Caitlin Noble, drawing an RBI walk to make it 7-4 with the bases juiced and Findlay at the plate. Washington replaced Noble with freshman Danielle Lawrie, who recorded the first out of the inning off a sacrifice fly from Findlay to make it 7-5 with U-M's runners advancing to second and third. Lawrie struck out senior Becky Marx (St. Joseph, Mich./Lakeshore) in the next at-bat and induced Leutele into a groundout to end the threat and U-M's comeback hopes.

Michigan will play the third-place team in Pool C Saturday (March 18) at 6:15 p.m. PST. The Pool C standings will be finalized Saturday morning when games resume after being postponed by weather on Friday night.

Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423